David Mulroy - Aeschylus: Agamemnon
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- Book:Aeschylus: Agamemnon
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- Publisher:University of Wisconsin Press
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- Year:2016
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Aeschylus: Agamemnon: summary, description and annotation
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Aeschylus (525/4456/5 B.C.E.) was the first of the three great tragic dramatists of ancient Greece, a forerunner of Sophocles and Euripides. His early tragedies were largely choral pageants with minimal plots. In Agamemnon, choral songs still predominate, but Aeschylus infuses them with such dramatic feeling that the spectator or reader is constantly spellbound.
Translator David Mulroy brings this ancient tragedy to life for modern readers and audiences. Using end rhyme and strict metrics, he combines the buoyant lyricism of the Greek text with a faithful rendering of its meaning in lucid English.
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WATCHMAN, a slave of Agamemnon
CHORUS, twelve elderly citizens of Argos
CORYPHAEUS, leader of the chorus
CLYTEMNESTRA, Agamemnons wife, queen of Argos
HERALD, messenger in Agamemnons army
AGAMEMNON, king of Argos, leader of the expedition against Troy
CASSANDRA , daughter of Priam, king of Troy, now Agamemnons captive
CLYTEMNESTRAS ATTENDANTS
AEGISTHUS, Agamemnons cousin, Clytemnestras lover
AEGISTHUS ATTENDANTS
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARDS, officer in charge of Aegisthus bodyguard
(The play is set in Argos before the palace of King Agamemnon. The WATCHMAN, who speaks the opening lines, is stationed on the palaces roof. CLYTEMNESTRA enters from the interior of the palace via a central door. Other entrances are from the wings.)
| WATCHMAN: | |
| I ask the gods to end this yearlong watch | |
| on Agamemnons roof, where I support | |
| my chin on forepaws like a dog and watch | |
| the starry congregations night by night, | |
| the ethers brilliant dynasties that bring | |
| wintery chill and summer heat to men. | |
| I watch the constellations rise and sink | |
| hoping to see a signal torch ignite, | |
| a flash of fire bringing word from Troy. | |
| The word is captured. Why such vigilance? | 10 |
| A womans eager, manly hearts in charge. | |
| Therefore I keep a restless, dew-damp bed, | |
| which dreams have never looked upon, since fear | |
| forever hoversfear instead of sleep. | |
| My eyelids never stay together long, | |
| and when I sing or whistle melodies | |
| to drug my sleepless mind, I end the song | |
| in tears for all this houses suffering, | |
| this house once governed well, no longer so. | |
| But let my labors have a happy end | 20 |
| and that auspicious light relieve this gloom! |
(After a pause, a flame appears in the distance.)
| Hello! My beacon! Bringing light of day | |
| and dancing choruses to Greece | |
| to celebrate the fortune you announce! | |
| Eeoo! Eeoo! | |
| That shrill alarms for Agamemnons wife, | |
| for she must quickly leave her bed and raise | |
| a joyous cheer to celebrate this light, | |
| if Ilium has truly fallen now, | |
| as this burnt message clearly signifies, | 30 |
| and I myself will dance a prelude first. |
(He dances a jig.)
| Ill use my masters lucky cast somehow. |
| This vigil rolled a triple six for me. |
| Just let me see the houses lord return |
| and let me hold his kindly hand in mine. |
| Im silent otherwise. A giant ox |
| stands on my tongue. If palace walls could talk, |
| youd hear some lively tales. Perhaps you catch |
| my drift. Thats good. If not... my memory fails. |
(Exit WATCHMAN. Enter the CHORUS representing twelve elderly citizens.)
| CHORUS: | |
| Ten years have elapsed since the great | Anapests (40103) |
| lord Menelaus, the plaintiff, | |
| accuser of Priam, together | |
| with lord Agamemnon, the Atreids | |
| powerful wagon of honor, | |
| a dyad divinely endowed | |
| with scepters and sovereign thrones, | |
| launched myriad ships from the land, | |
| an Argive attack expedition. | |
| They angrily shouted for war, | |
| like vultures who circle their nests, | |
| who row through the air overcome | |
| by unbearable pain as they view | |
| the waste of the labor they spent on their young. | |
| Above, some Apollo or Pan | |
| or possibly Zeus has detected | |
| the shrill lamentation of birds, | |
| his fellow sky-dwellers, and sends | |
| a belated avenger to punish the crime. | |
| Thus Zeus, whose superior might | |
| protects the hospitable, sends | |
| the children that Atreus sired | |
| against Alexander of Troy; | |
| at stakea promiscuous wife. | |
| And many a bone-weary grapple | |
| with knees driven down in the dirt | |
| and the ritual breaking of spears | |
| awaits both the Trojans and Greeks. | |
| Things are as they are. Their completion is fixed. | |
| Dont count on the burning of victims | |
| or liquids untouched by the flame | |
| to quench inexorable rage. | |
| We ourselves were excluded from honor | |
| because of our elderly flesh. | |
| The army rejected us. Now | |
| we linger reduced to supporting | |
| our infantile strength on our canes. | |
| The marrow that throbs in a child | |
| resembles an elderly mans, | |
| for Ares is absent in each. | |
| When the foliage withers, old age | |
| travels a three-footed path, | |
| wandering weak as a child, | |
| a dream that is seen by the day. | |
| But you, Clytemnestra, our queen, | |
| daughter Tyndareus bred, | |
| please tell us whats happening now | |
| explaining the message you heard, | |
| the new information for which | |
| you circle the city with flame. | |
| The altars of all of the gods, | |
| of demons above and below, | |
| of doorway and marketplace gods, | |
| all of them blaze with your gifts. | |
| From every direction, a fire | |
| ascends to the top of the sky, | |
| induced by the gentle, untainted | |
| persuasion of sacrosanct oil | |
| oil from the storeroom of kings. | |
| Please tell us whats happening now, | |
| revealing whatever you can, | |
| what custom permits you to say; | |
| become the physician of care | |
| that occasionally darkens our thought, | |
| while comforting hopes that are raised | |
| by the victims you joyously burn | |
| ward off the insatiable fear | |
| and the sorrow that eats at our soul. |
| Im authorized to sing about | Strophe A (104121) |
| the powerful estate | |
| of men in charge of leading us | |
| along the road of fate. |
| By grace divine the time thats passed |
| since first I came along |
| grants my breath persuasion still, |
| which is the strength of song. |
| I sing of how a bird sign sped |
| Achaea sdouble throne, |
| two single-minded kings, to Troy, |
| and they were not alone. |
| They led the Hellenes blooming youth |
| to Teucers distant land. |
| And each of them had fixed a spear |
| in his avenging hand. |
| The navys kings peruse the sky. |
| The kings of birds appear, |
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